Today roller skates, especially in-line skates, and skateboards are often braked by means of a rubber stopper mounted in the heel area or, for skateboards, in the rear area, the stopper being positioned against the ground when the front rollers are lifted. Disadvantages are limited steerability when braking, high wear on the rubber stopper, and the applying force when raising the foot during lengthy descents or if the ground is noticeably uneven.
In the prior art, brakes that act on at least one of the rollers of a roller skate or skateboard are known that are actuated manually by means of a lever (see e.g. DE 100 48 786 A1) or by means of a clamp on the lower leg of the skater (e.g. DE 103 33 378 A1). Such systems require a special body posture during braking that must be learned and must be adapted to the skater.
Known from WO 01/64302 A1 is pivoting a roller against its rotational axle by applying an axial force, which leads to friction on the roller in its bearing frame on the roller skate and thus causes a braking action.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,168 provides a disk brake module that is like a type of a multi-disk coupling and that is arranged in a roller. If an axial force is applied to the roller by inclining it, thus axially displacing the roller, the multi-disks are pressed together and the wheel is thus braked. The pressure acting on the brake disks corresponds to the axial force acting on the roller, and thus for stronger braking maneuvers requires that the roller skate be in a more inclined position, which then leads to unstable skating and heavy asymmetrical wear on the roller.